Half the Mets’ outs yesterday came without even putting the ball into play.

Records are made to be broken, and the Mets dutifully complied at Shea. They fanned 27 times in their two losses to Arizona, breaking the major league mark of 26 for two nine-inning halves of a doubleheader.

The Mets struck out 12 times in the opener and added 15 more in round two. Ty Wigginton and Raul Gonzalez were the main culprits, striking out four times apiece. In comparison, the Diamondbacks struck out only 11 times all day.

“Strikeouts happen. We ran into some tough pitchers,” Wigginton said. “The first guy [Brandon Webb] had a real good sinker and surprised us maybe. And then you’ve got [Randy] Johnson.”

Johnson (12 Ks) is understandable. But Webb? He was making his first major league start and still struck out 10.

Asked if the Mets’ fielding (a combined eight errors) affected their hitting and vice versa, Art Howe replied, “No, that’s too easy of an answer. That has nothing to do with it.”

“I think at this level, everybody leaves the bats in the dugout,” Wigginton added.

After a 45-pitch bullpen session yesterday, John Franco is eyeing a batting practice outing tomorrow in St. Louis. The reliever has yet to throw on back-to-back days but doesn’t think that’s far away.

“Right now, it’s every other day,” he said. “I’m not where I want to be yet, but I’m getting pretty close. I have to be patient.”

There was one bit of good news yesterday. Jae Seo (no earned runs in six innings in game two) walked David Dellucci in the first inning, but it was the first free pass of his pitching career, a span of 103 batters. That’s the longest streak to begin a career by any pitcher since World War II (1945).